The effects of recurring floods and droughts, the deaths of 6,000 babies daily from waterborne diseases and growing sanitation problems in booming peri-urban and urban centres. No act of terrorism generates devastation on the scale of the crisis in water and sanitation. A billion people still lack access to safe water and 2.6 people lack access to adequate sanitation. More than most resources and services, water and sanitation are essential for all aspects of life, wellbeing and productivity and have been the focus of development interventions and international action for three decades. But there remains a big disconnect between global rhetoric and the everyday realities and experiences of poor and marginalised people.

This briefing accompanies the Working Paper Liquid Dynamics: Challenges for Sustainability in water and sanitation.